May revealed the happy discovery in a Jan. 13 post on his website, telling fans he'd been in the studio prior to receiving the good news from his doctor. "Some Queen magic is happening . . . I feel it in my bones," May wrote. "It's annoying to have to be so secretive, but I guess I have to, for now. What I can say is the track we dusted off today has the four of us -- Freddie, John, Roger and myself -- playing together on a track we'd forgotten about that was never finished."

One might suppose that such a track would have to be in a pretty sorry state to have been forgotten about all these years, especially given that the band scoured the vaults for its 1995 release, 'Made in Heaven.' But according to May, "It sounds so fresh, now all carefully transferred into the ProTools environment but sounding exactly like it did straight off the 24-track tape it was recorded on over 30 years ago. I got quite emotional hearing some of it . . . some rough takes, some discussion and banter, and then a really good take and some overdubs, and well . . . it's crying out to be finally brought into the world."

May didn't offer any details regarding the shape this release might take, or when it might arrive in stores, but he did hint at a larger project in the works, saying that he and drummer Roger Taylor are "both working on 'archaeology' this week" and added, "We'll meet up to compare notes very soon, and figure out where we go from here. I can't help but feel a buzz. I'm energized again. It's nice to be putting the Queen hat on again for a while. This year will be interesting, to say the least. I'm very thankful I will get to enjoy it."